Come with me - to the Mayan ruins of Cobà

schwepps800 (46)in #travel • 7 years ago

Another Maya site we’ve visit along our way through Yucatan Peninsula was **Cobà**. We go there by organized tour from Playa del Carmen. Firsts stop was close to Tulum, where we went to see some cenotes and had a little excursion through jungle.

A cenote is some natural pit or sinkhole. The name in low-land Yucatec Maya — *ts'onot* — refers to any location with accessible groundwater. Made when the limestone bedrock collapsed, which exposes groundwater underneath. It is a common geological form especially for low latitude regions, particularly on islands, coastlines, that's why whole Riviera Maya is covered with it. Cenotes were sometimes used by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings. It is not proved but some scientist believe that whole peninsula and every cenote on it is linked by underground river.

We’ve visited Cenote Casa de Tortuga and few smaller. The place was really nice to swim into clear water or relax on the shore with big lizards.

We went into the jungle, visited few caves and saw some fossils on the rocks.

After a not so long trek (we saw some really big spiders on the way), we got to another cenote, but this one was not whole open. The celling was covered with stalactite. We swam under, sometimes we needed to squeezed into really small passages. It was a great experience.

From there we went to Cobà. The ruins are located 120 miles south of Cancun and 40 miles from Tulum. The name in Maya is translated as The water stirred by wind.

You must know that this unique Maya ruins are still a big mystery. Only a few of its estimated 6,500 structures have been uncovered. Cobá was once the heart of a large metropolis composed of many cities within the eastern Yucatan. It may have had the largest population of all the ancient Mayan cities. .

Nohoc Mul pyramid (the tallest in the Yucatan at over 126 feet) with its steepness and specific building techniques is characteristic for the Petan region of Guatemala. There are stories that indicate a ruling queen here married some priest from Tikal, where you have the tallest Mayan pyramid. This may be the reason why the architecture of the two sites is similar.

Now you need to prepare yourself for some climb. You will have 120 stairs to the top of the Grand Pyramid but well, is worth the effort. Standing an the top and having this amazing view over the jungle canopy for miles, temple mounds peeking above the trees is indeed priceless.